The Cubs have about $96MM locked up before raises, unless perhaps insurance covers Rusch’s salary. Also keep in mind that Miller can earn an additional $3.75MM in incentives and some of Soriano’s bonus may need to be paid out in ’07. Zambrano should get decent money in arbitration, so a rough estimate is $102MM committed. There have been rumors of the team taking payroll all the way to $120MM to field a winner in 2007. That’d mean a lot of patchwork via free agency. Hey, it worked for the Marlins in ’97. Wow, that team had some crappy seasons by hitters now that I look at it.

Mark DeRosa will handle second base now, so the infield’s set.

In the outfield, Hendry really just needs a center fielder. Kenny Lofton is the only real viable option in free agency. Otherwise Jones or Soriano will have to learn the position. There’s also been talk of adding Cliff Floyd as a platoon partner for Murton; I don’t see the point.

The rotation could probably use one more arm behind the front three of Zambrano, Lilly, and Hill. Someone to bridge the gap between Hill and the fifth starter DL combo of Prior and Miller. Gil Meche remains on the radar. In-house longshot starting candidates include Dempster and Cotts. The trade bait seems to be Jones, who apparently wants out of Chicago.

A few of the pitchers I’ve listed will be squeezed out and sent to the minors or traded. The Cubs have three lefties in the pen currently.